Advice Needed On These Historical Novels

[SonjaMarie]

These are the current historical novels on my BF queue and I need advice about which ones are worth reading and which ones aren't, any advice is appreciated!

The Queen's Lover by Vanora Bennett 624pgs
For the King by Catherine Delors (July 2011)
To Be Queen of the Early Life of Eleanor of Aquitaine by Christy English
When We Were Gods: A Novel of Cleopatra by Colin Falconer
The Queen's Rival: In the Court of Henry VIII by Diane Haeger
The King's Witch by Cecelia Holland (July 2011) (?)
The Forever Queen by Helen Hollick
The Scarlet Contessa: A Novel of Italian Renaissance by Jeanne Kalogridis (July 2011) (?)
The Bad Queen: Rules and Instructions for Marie-Antoinette (Young Royals) by Carolyn Meyer (June 2011)
The King's Touch by Jude Morgan
To Serve a King by Donna Russo Morin
Exit the Actress: A Novel by Priya Parmar
The Borgia Betrayal: A Novel (Poisoner Mysteries) by Sara Poole (June 2011)
Isabeau, A Novel of Queen Isabella and Sir Roger Mortimer by N. Gemini Sasson
Désirée: The Bestselling Story of Napoleon's First Love by Annemarie Selinko
Queen By Right: A Novel by Anne Easter Smith (May 2011)
The Fugitive Prince by Noel Stevens
The Adventures of Alianore Audley by Brian Wainwright

Thanks!

SM

[boswellbaxter]

I loved The King's Touch.

The Bad Queen is a YA novel about Marie Antoinette; it's a quick and enjoyable enough read but about the only thing I found memorable about it was its gimmicky "rule" format.

Queen by Right isn't out yet except as an ARC; I imagine that if you like her other books and prefer your roses spanking white, you'd like this one.:p

I really didn't like Désirée, but I'm in the minority. Napoleon running off to seek Desiree's advice and/or approval every time he made a decision got old for me in a hurry.

Alianore Audley is quite funny.

I have To Be Queen in my own TBR pile, and Isabeau is on my Kindle.

[Misfit]

I really didn't like Désirée, but I'm in the minority. Napoleon running off to seek Desiree's advice and/or approval every time he made a decision got old for me in a hurry.

Alianore Audley is quite funny.

Ditto those two opinions. I think the diary narrative in Desiree really hampered the story. Brian Alianore is hilarious.

My luck with Haegar and Bennett are middling to poor and I don't plan on going near either again. I like Hollick a lot. The Forever Queen might not be her strongest, but it's still very good.

[Divia]

I didnt like Scarlett Contessa. It was long and wordy.

[Veronica]

I haven't read any of those books but I do like Diane Haeger as an author..

[Vanessa]

I have For the King by Catherine Delors on my TBR pile - I loved Mistress of the Revolution (it as a book of the month on here some time ago).

I read Queen of Silks (aka Figures in Silk) by Vanora Bennett and enjoyed it. I think I maybe in the minority for this one, though.

I loved Passion by Jude Morgan and have heard great things about The King's Touch, which is on my TBR pile.

I have Anne Easter Smith's books on my TBR pile - I think I'm attracted to her books by the covers!!:o:rolleyes::D

[EC2]

I've only read the Brian Wainwright out of those and I loved it.
Oh, and Helen Hollick's. That's been edited and improved upon since the UK edition and she's a solid writer.

[Margaret]

A big thumbs up for Catherine Delors' For the King (see review (http://www.HistoricalNovels.info/For-the-King.html)). I thought it had the perfect balance of swiftly paced, tense plotting and literary depth with exceptionally vivid and evocative prose.

Some people like Cecelia Holland and some don't. I'm in the "yes" camp, because she is so good at evoking the time period, and her characters never feel like modern people in fancy dress-up. I haven't read The King's Witch, though.

Jeanne Kalogridis's The Scarlet Contessa (see review (http://www.HistoricalNovels.info/Scarlet-Contessa.html)) took the ickiest rumors about Catherine de Medici and assumed they were true, so there are some pretty gory scenes involving the practice of sorcery. I much preferred the biographical novel approach of Chris Gortner's The Confessions of Catherine de Medici (see review (http://www.HistoricalNovels.info/Confessions-of-Catherine-de-Medici.html)). But if you've already read that one, and The Scarlett Contessa is on your pile, you might want to read it just to see how differently two authors can approach the same historical person's story!

After reading Donna Russo Morin's The Secret of the Glass (see review (http://www.HistoricalNovels.info/Secret-of-the-Glass.html)), I lost interest in reading any of her other novels. Lots of over-the-top metaphors, and some that I found totally ridiculous. But if you're into historical romance and don't care too much about an elegant writing style, you might enjoy it.

Although I haven't read The King's Touch, I thoroughly enjoyed Jude Morgan's Charlotte and Emily aka A Taste of Sorrow (see review (http://www.HistoricalNovels.info/Charlotte-and-Emily.html)). If I had another Jude Morgan novel on my own TBR pile, I'd dive right into it.

[BrianPK]

I really didn't like Désirée, but I'm in the minority. Napoleon running off to seek Desiree's advice and/or approval every time he made a decision got old for me in a hurry.

.
I really enjoyed Desiree,which I read about 20 years ago but you're correct about Napoleon rushing back to see Desiree immediately after his retreat from Moscow. That also struck me as being a little silly.

[eclecticreader10]

Désirée: The Bestselling Story of Napoleon's First Love by Annemarie Selinko

I read this when I was 15. I think it was the first HF that I ever read. It heald my interest. I know I liked it, but I can't say why. It was too many years ago (over 40).

[Mythica]

The Forever Queen by Helen Hollick


I love this one - it's one of my all time favorite historical novels and I've been itching to read Hollick's other novels now but they're so long, I need to find time for them.

Exit the Actress: A Novel by Priya Parmar

Everyone raves about this one but I tried the Kindle sample and didn't like the format - it's written in journal format with letters and newspaper articles thrown in. One Goodreads review described it as "the Twitter version of Nell Gwynn's life", lol. Not my style but if you're okay with the format, you'll probably love it since everyone else does. I didn't rate it since I only read the sample.

Isabeau, A Novel of Queen Isabella and Sir Roger Mortimer by N. Gemini Sasson

It constantly swaps between Isabella's and Roger's first person points of view, which I wasn't a fan of. I think it might have been better in third person. But otherwise, pretty good - I gave it 3/5 stars.

[Amanda]

I loved The King's Touch too. It was my first Restoration era read I think........

[Misfit]

I loved The King's Touch too. It was my first Restoration era read I think........

I agree about this one, and probably would have rated it higher but it was in interlibrary and I had to rush through it as it was due back and you can't renew them. I got kind of sick-tracked when Devil's Brood came out ;):o

[Telynor]

Here's my take on these:

For the King by Catherine Delors -- This turned out to be much better than I thought it would be. I love it when an author can surprise me.

The King's Touch by Jude Morgan -- This one wasn't bad either.

Désirée: The Bestselling Story of Napoleon's First Love by Annemarie Selinko -- first read this as a teen, and love it. A touch dated, but lots of fun.

[Brenna]

The King's Witch by Cecelia Holland (July 2011) (?)
The Forever Queen by Helen Hollick
The Scarlet Contessa: A Novel of Italian Renaissance by Jeanne Kalogridis (July 2011) (?)
Exit the Actress: A Novel by Priya Parmar
Isabeau, A Novel of Queen Isabella and Sir Roger Mortimer by N. Gemini Sasson
Queen By Right: A Novel by Anne Easter Smith (May 2011)
The Adventures of Alianore Audley by Brian Wainwright
SM

I did not enjoy Cecelia Holland's Great Maria but I cannot speak to The King's Witch.

I love anything by Helen Hollick-although her I am the Chosen King had quite a few grammatical errors that distracted from the story. Same goes for Jeanne Kalogridis-she goes a little too dark sometimes, but she weaves one heck of a story.
I bought Exit the Actress based on recommendations from Sharon Kay Penman and this forum. Same with N. Gemini Sasson's Robert the Bruce series. I haven't read either of them yet, so I can't comment.
I thoroughly enjoyed Brian Wainwright's Alianore Audley and if you need a good laugh, put this one at the top of your TBR list.
I've only read Anne Easter Smith's A Rose for the Crown, but it was an easy read and I can only imagine how she will portray Cecily. I am one of those who loves my roses perfectly white, so I enjoy her stories :D

[SonjaMarie]

Thanks all for your advice. I removed some of the ones I decided not to bother with.

SM

[Bethany67]

I'm reading 'To Be Queen' by Christy English at the moment. Eleanor of Aquitaine is my fave historical character, and this just might be the best novel about her that I've read; it beats Alison Weir's one hands down, which I started but put aside for now. A lot of them gloss over her political responsibilities as Duchess of Aquitaine and rush on to her marriage to Henry, but this one depicts her as a very strong character moulded and trained by her father in terms of political games, and the enmity between her and the Church in the form of Suger is very well done indeed. I do see Katherine Hepburn as Eleanor (The Lion In Winter) when I read this. I'd say it's definitely worth reading, although I'm only 4 years into her marriage to Louis so far.

[Miss Moppet]

I've only read two of these:

For the King by Catherine Delors (July 2011)

Loved this, review on the blog & I think I posted it on this site too. Definitely worth a read but it's not the romantic novel the cover suggests, it's a police procedural and paints a wonderful picture of early Napoleonic Paris.

Désirée: The Bestselling Story of Napoleon's First Love by Annemarie Selinko

I think this is worth reading too although I had the same problems with the diary format that others did and Desiree's life is somewhat sugared up. It's one to turn to when you're in the mood for a frothy 1950s saga, kind of the equivalent of a novelisation of Gigi (as opposed to the novel the musical was actually adapted from).

[SonjaMarie]

Has any one read "The Queen's Governess" by Karen Harper, and if so, how was it?

SM

[SonjaMarie]

Also what about "The People's Queen" by Vanora Bennett?

SM

[Mythica]

Has any one read "The Queen's Governess" by Karen Harper, and if so, how was it?

SM

I liked it but didn't love it - gave it 3/5 stars. It was short (especially for HF) so it was good for a quick, "light" read which still gives you some insight into Elizabeth's childhood and teen years. However, Kat's relationship with Elizabeth doesn't really kick in until about half way through so most of the first half focuses on Kat's (most fictional) life.

[Misfit]

I liked it but didn't love it - gave it 3/5 stars. It was short (especially for HF) so it was good for a quick, "light" read which still gives you some insight into Elizabeth's childhood and teen years. However, Kat's relationship with Elizabeth doesn't really kick in until about half way through so most of the first half focuses on Kat's (most fictional) life.

Same here, and I think it was a DNF for me. I was expecting more of a relationship with Elizabeth and not the focus on Kat's early life.